Israel’s Shin Bet says October 7 attack could have been prevented as it admits fault and casts blame

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has said it “failed in its mission” to prevent Hamas’ October 7 attack by ignoring repeated warning signs.

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has said it “failed in its mission” to prevent Hamas’ October 7 attack by ignoring repeated warning signs. Shin Bet’s chief, Ronen Bar, said in a statement that if Shin Bet had “acted differently in the years leading up to the attack and on the night of the attack (…) the massacre would have been prevented.” “As the head of the organization, I will carry this heavy burden on my shoulders for the rest of my life,” he said. In a summary of an internal investigation published Tuesday evening, Shin Bet, officially the Israel Security Agency, said that a wide range of factors were responsible for Hamas’ ability to stage the catastrophic attack. Among them, Shin Bet said, were Qatar’s years-long payments to Hamas. Those payments were blessed by Israel, whose government believed it was beneficial to drive a political wedge between Gaza and the West Bank. Qatar rejected Shin Bet’s accusations, saying in a statement Wednesday they are false and “are yet another example of deflection driven by self-interest and self-preservation in Israeli politics.”